Ultimatum

By Matthew Glass

Book Overview

November 2032. Joe Benton has just been elected the forty-eighth president of the United States. Only days after winning, Benton learns from his predecessor that previous estimates regarding the effect of global warming on rising sea levels have been grossly underestimated. For the United States, a leading carbon emitter for decades, the prospects are devastating: thirty million coastal-dwelling citizens will need to be relocated; Miami will be washed into the ocean and southern California will waste away to desert; the relocation process will cost trillions of dollars. With the world frighteningly close to catastrophe, Benton opts to abandon multilateral negotiations in the Kyoto 4 summit and resumes secret bilateral negotiations with the Chinesethe world's worst polluter. As the two superpowers lock horns, the ensuing battle of wits becomes a race against time. Ultimatum is a visionary and deeply unsettling thriller that explores the most pressing issue of the twenty-first centurythe future of our planetand boldly predicts the way the world will be in twenty-five years.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802118887
• ISBN13: 9780802118882
• Release Date: April 2009
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Untimatum: A Geopolitical Page-Turner

Read the headlines regarding global warming as a result of the increasing levels of carbon dioxide in out atmosphere, and it will make you wonder what will be the consequences over the next few decades. That's the idea behind Ultimatum, a geopolitical page-turner from Matthew Glass, and his debut novel. Set in the fall of 2032, new President-elect Joe Benton faces tougher decisions than any of the forty-seven that have preceded him. The continuing effects of global warming have caused much of the entire US southwest to become deserts, and Florida is faced with the invasion of tides from the rising seas that surround it. He meets with the outgoing president and finds that the situation is far worse than the public has been told by the government or the press, and it's happening at a faster rate than might have been expected. The global effects and destruction are imminent, so Benton idealistically tried to get the world leaders to work together and implement immediate measures to stop the causes of the global warming before its too late. China, the biggest source of carbon emissions, overtly distrustful of Benton's proposals. Their diplomatic meetings grow progressively more tense, and as a result, China and the United States face each others at the brink of total thermonuclear war. Ultimatum is a page-turner, but because of the overly large cast of character, you may be turning those same pages backwards to track of some of the characters. There is a lot of dialogue that might have been better replaced with descriptions of events, but that's just a minor thing, as you want to continue on through its 400 pages to see what happens next. There are a few technical and scientific issues that an astute reader may stumble over, but it's best to remember that this is a thriller, and not a scientific dissertation. This book is a seemingly prophetic and profoundly disturbing thriller, one that delves into what may be the forthcoming future of our planet due to ongoing global warming. It will cause the reader to pause and think about what our world will be like in the nest decades, and wonder what will be the result beyond mid-century. Don't expect a happy ending; that's all that I'm saying about it, but buy or borrow this book, and read it. It's a fascinating and entertaining read, and one that will make you think.

I Was Too Terrified To Sleep After Reading "Ultimatum"

Could World War III be fought over carbon emissions control rather than energy resources? It's a question that Matthew Glass explores in his provocative, apocalyptic thriller "Ultimatum." This political novel chronicles the struggles of President Joseph Benton who has taken it upon himself to save the world from global warming. The seas are rising faster than initially predicted. Over thirty million Americans will have to be relocated. Soon, Florida will be underwater and California will be a desert. He has developed the Carbon Plan which will limit the carbon emissions of all developed countries. Unfortunately, no one is buying into it. President Benton finds himself at odds with his family, his political party, labor unions, and governing officials around the world. President Wen Goujie of the People's Republic of China adamantly refuses to negotiate on carbon emissions with the United States; he claims that the United States composes only five percent of the world's population but has produced twenty-five percent of the world's emissions for many years. Out of anger, President Goujie demands that the United States remove their military support from Taiwan or this will be looked upon as an aggressive act towards war. My heart was pounding hard within my chest and I was sweating bullets as I quickly read the last fifty pages of "Ultimatum." It is quite unsettling and unnerving when one learns that a handful of politicians can make decisions that can destroy the lives of millions, even billions, of people. In endless board meetings, paranoid politicians with inflated egos bicker like little children. Protocol and formality get in the way of successful negotiations. Frustrated, I wanted to scream, "Grow up and play nice!" It's no wonder bills take forever to get passed and made into laws. "Ultimatum" spans approximately one year and that is how long it takes for foreign countries to begin considering the acceptance of President Benton's Carbon Plan. Ultimatum" reads like non-fiction. It is very political and technical. Matthew Glass had definitely performed a great deal of research. He exhibits a superior knowledge of our country's political system and the harmful effects of global warming. Be forewarned, "Ultimatum" is not a disaster novel in the same vein as Paul Gallico's excellent "The Poseidon Adventure." It is more along the lines of a Tom Clancy novel. "Ultimatum" is about mother nature issuing an ultimatum to mankind: Clean up the world or global warming will destroy you. It is about President Benton issuing an ultimatum to China: Join the Carbon Plan and limit your emissions or we will impose trade sanctions against you. "Ultimatum" is highly recommended for fans of political thrillers. It will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat until the last page.

Strictly on its own merits...

Let me explain from the outset: I believe Man-made Global Warming is the biggest hoax politics has ever pushed on scientific inquiry. The only near comparison is what the Inquisition tried to do to science during the Dark Ages. Al Gore gets credit for victimizing scientific inquiry to the absolute dogma of political agenda whims. So when Gore declared that partial melting of the polar icecaps and Greenland ice shelf would cause oceans to rise 22 feet, then tacked on, "The debate is over," he single-handedly ended science as we used to know it, leaving inquiry based on skeptical proof of doubt in the Dark Ages. Even the IPCC and scientific projections estimate sea level rises maxing at 22 inches. That left Gore's apocalypse only at a 1,200 percent over-exaggeration. I address Gore, because Matthew Glass goes on the premise that everything we've predicted about Global Warming estimates has been grossly underestimated. So, if Gore's miscalculation might be 1,200 percent off the mark, Glass's premise says it might have been that percentage off in the direction of correction, not miscalculation! My first impulse was to ignore "Ultimatum" as a fear-mongering liberal agenda novel that had no clue of climate politics as a tool to overturn national sovereignty to the hands of international-rule. But then I thought, why not give Glass a fair hearing, just to see how he handles the material? After all, we give authors like Clive Cussler a lot of leeway to come up with improbable premisses. My commitment in reading Ultimatum was to keep an open mind and judge the book on its own merits, not on the flimsy basis of facts. What is Ultimatum? It's a political thriller that goes through a lot of back-room discussions and negotiations to pre-empt an ecological and social disaster that no one is prepared to admit, and nations are unwilling to address. It begins to get its feet about half-way through when it becomes apparent the Chinese government will not make concessions as the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses. But it's actually around page 300 when the action starts, and the chain of events leads to unexpected political consequences. The climax, even though it it is set up and made inevitable throughout the book, comes as a crisis of unexpected proportions. Glass patiently lays out the political machinations of the plot, perhaps a little to patiently. There is a LOT of talk about what to do. How will allies or opponents react to a certain course of events or proposals? How does a determined elected official lay out the case for drastic actions no one is willing to take, and everyone is looking to someone else to take the first move? But once Glass has laid down the pipeline, the story becomes explosive and thought provoking. He could have made the premise any world threat (such as terrorism or bully nations) and still brought out the big climax of inescapable consequences. It just happened to hang the story on the popular notion that climate change will

Reads Like Contemporary Cahllenges in Our Country

Too many novelists, these days, it seems to me, assume that if at the beginning of their work, they plunge the reader into an ongoing human situation, everyday life, that is sufficient to kindle and maintain reader interest. Perhaps this is the inheritance from the era of realism in philosophy, art and literature that began in the 19th Century and most famously with the works of Gustave Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant, and Zola. But for me, I like some verisimilitude, but I'm not interested in the hum-drum, boring everyday stuff. I want excitement, adventure, and that essential spice: suspense. This writer gives it to me. Furthermore, to call this novel well-researched and well-thought-out hardly does it justice. I am in awe of the author's knowledge or government and global affairs. What I also found fascinating is the way the plot parallels the present situation in our country and problems which face our newly elected President and his appointees. This makes the author's exploration of the possibilities, or the probabilities, that much more interesting and meaningful. Its content contains vital issues we all need to ponder, and ponder well. Furthermore, the author dares to broach subjects that others might shy away from. It's also a fun read. Highly recommended.

A book everybody needs to read

I am absolutely NOT telling you that you will agree with the issues brought out in the book. But I honestly feel you should become better informed on the primary issue of global warming.This is of course fiction, set in the year 2032...not all of us will necessarily still be here to see that year. However, this is a very possible scenario of what is ahead of us as a planet.Global warming has become a political issue. Even this book portrays Democrats as concerned with the issue and Republicans as disbelievers that it is happening.The truth is that this is not a political issue, but a scientific one. I personally (as a Californian at the time) have lived through the era in which many believed that California was going to sink into the ocean. However, I believe there is sounder scientific evidence that we are in a period of climactic change.Therefore, I find a portrayal of a 2032 in which many Florida residents as well as those in the San Francisco era are facing relocation as very much in the realm of possibility.And so I find this book as one that will set you to thinking regardless of your political affiliation.This novel effectively portrays what it is to be in the office of President of the U.S. We become involved with all of the issues concerning the person in this high office, including the self-serving issues. So I'm not saying that you necessarily will find this a great novel. However, I do believe that it will have you thiking about gloval warming and what it might mean to you, your children, and your grandchildren. And this is the purpose of the book. It's not persuasion. It's to get you to honestly thinking about the issue.'Nuff said.